Question of the day - Seat belts
Wednesday, Dec 5, 2007 - Posted by Rich Miller
I was in an auto accident Saturday afternoon. We were heading to Chicago to see the 50th anniversary concert for the Old Town School of Folk Music during that big ice storm. Just north of Pontiac, I hit the slickest patch of ice I’ve ever seen and wound up in the median ditch. Oops.
We were both wearing our seat belts so neither of us was hurt beyond some minor bruises, even though I did total the car. Five minutes after our wreck, a car driving south on the frontage road hit an ice patch and flipped four times. The driver was apparently not wearing his belt and he was thrown from his vehicle and died almost instantly.
Usually, I like to keep my private life private. It’s really none of your business what I do or what happens to me when I’m not working. But I’ve been thinking all week that maybe if I show you a photo of my car, it’ll convince some of the recalcitrants out there to wear their freakin’ seat belts, so here it is…
Again, we weren’t hurt other than a bit of soreness. It could have been much worse if we were stupid enough not to wear our belts.
So, on to the question: Do you ever go beltless? Why? Also, do you have any friends or family members who refuse to wear their belts? What’s their excuse?
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Spin and fallout
Wednesday, Dec 5, 2007 - Posted by Rich Miller
* I told you yesterday about the lawsuit filed by business groups to stop the governor from ignoring the Joint Committee on Administrative Rules’ vote to block his emergency rules to greatly expand health care programs. How did the governor’s office react? Well, by shifting into partisan campaign mode, of course…
The Blagojevich administration issued a written statement blasting the lawsuit as the work of “Republican activists.”
“It’s unfortunate that two prominent Republican activists would go to court to take health care away from families,” Blagojevich spokeswoman Rebecca Rausch said in the statement. “President Bush wouldn’t even go to those lengths. Every Democratic leader in Illinois should join us in fighting this lawsuit and help protect the hardworking people who rely on us for health coverage so they can keep seeing a doctor.”
* More…
“Every Democratic leader in Illinois should join us in fighting this lawsuit and help protect the hardworking people who rely on us for health coverage so they can keep seeing a doctor,” Blagojevich spokeswoman Abby Ottenhoff said in an e-mail.
* And then there’s this breathtaking spin…
This is the first time, lawmakers note, that Blagojevich has disregarded an action by the 12-member panel, which he strengthened several years ago by giving it the power to permanently block rules sought by the administration.
Previously, such actions had to be ratified by the entire General Assembly.
Ottenhoff said the administration’s track record of obeying the panel’s rulings is “irrelevant” and insisted that the panel’s votes on rules are merely advisory.
He signed a law to specifically allow JCAR to block his emergency rules and then claims it can’t. Amazing.
* I told subscribers about this next development earlier this week, and the Trib buries it way down in their story today…
Lawmakers are watching the suit closely, saying its outcome could greatly shape the way future laws are written. It also could force legislators to rewrite many existing statutes to prevent state agencies from hiking fees or taking other major actions that would normally require approval from the rule-making committee that shot down Blagojevich’s health-care expansion, they said.
Bills are gonna get really, really long and detailed if legislators have to write the rules as well.
* More stuff…
* Kaduk: Blago too hooked on sports?
* The money crunch is underway for schools
* Business group says governor can’t go around legislators
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News and views on a couple of primaries
Wednesday, Dec 5, 2007 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Both of these endorsements are important in a Democratic primary, and neither will come with a whole lot of cash….
U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin announced Tuesday he will back Geneva scientist Bill Foster, and the Illinois AFL-CIO announced its support for Yorkville carpenter John Laesch in the 14th Congressional District Democratic primary election.
“As a scientist and businessman, Bill Foster will be a voice for common sense solutions in Congress,” Durbin said in a statement. “I’m proud to lend him my support and I look forward to working with Bill Foster to bring an end to the war in Iraq, pass affordable health care for all Americans and end our dependence on foreign oil.”
On Feb. 5, Foster will compete with Laesch, Genevan Joe Serra and St. Charles attorney Jotham Stein for the Democratic nomination to fill the seat formerly held by Rep. Dennis Hastert. […]
Also on Tuesday, the state AFL-CIO announced its backing for Laesch, who ran against Hastert in the 2006 general election.
The AFL-CIO listed the union carpenter among a group of national and local candidates the organization said “have long track records of standing up for workers’ rights, workplace safety, education, healthcare for all, fair trade and corporate accountability.”
Laesch is probably still struggling to gain some credibility after his gaffe-filled race in 2006, so the endorsement will help a lot. Foster has a hill to climb on name recognition, which Laesch already has because of the ‘06 bid, so the Durbin endorsement will help there.
* Meanwhile, Jim Oberweis was interviewed this week…
“I think there’s pretty good name recognition for the Oberweis name,” Oberweis said. “In fact, as I go door to door, It’s not unusual for people to, before I’m able to introduce myself, say ‘I know you.’”
I wonder what they say right after that. Anyway, back to the interview…
“As I’ve gone door to door, I’ve asked people what’s on their mind, and I really expected the war in Iraq to be the number one issue, and it wasn’t,” Oberweis said. “In fact, illegal immigration was the number one issue on people’s minds. I would say I get more questions on illegal immigration than on all other issues combined.”
People often hear what they want to hear, but he’s walking doors and I’m not, so I’ll take his word for it.
“I’m really an entrepreneur. I have really spent my life in business,” Oberweis said. “I’m not really a politician, and I never will be a politician.”
The jokes write themselves.
Oberweis is also attempting to assume the mantle of Denny Hastert, as this quote makes obvious…
Besides vying for the 14th Congressional seat, Oberweis also has run for state governor and [US] senate. He said he became interested in politics after Hastert encouraged him to run for [US] senate.
“My response was, ‘Well if Denny Hastert asks me to run and Peter Fitzgerald wants me to run and other Republicans want me to run, sure.’ I thought that was my way of saying no. But, two days later, I got a call from Denny Hastert asking me to get involved,” Oberweis said. “Since then, I have learned more. I have become more discouraged with the condition of the Republican party in Illinois, and I have become more and more committed to helping change that direction and trying to get candidates who are involved to serve the public instead of people who are involved to make money off of politic
Oberweis also promised to build an ice cream shop in the DeKalb-Sycamore area.
* In other news…
* Seals Beats Out Footlik For AFL-CIO Primary Endorsement
* Democrat Scott Harper Gets AFL-CIO Endorsement In IL-13
* Jill Morgenthaler Gets Key Labor Endorsement In IL-6
Discuss.
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Not good
Wednesday, Dec 5, 2007 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Many of us have been impressed with the way Alexi Giannoulias has handled himself as state treasurer. But his family’s bank is gonna dog him for a long while, I think. Today’s Sun-Times story is headlined “Alexi the amnesiac?”…
llinois State Treasurer Alexi Giannoulias was accused Tuesday of evading questions and playing a “game” about what he knew about a $1 million bank loan he gave in 2002 to an 86-year-old, “feeble-minded” woman.
Giannoulias was loan officer at his family’s Broadway Bank when he agreed to give the loan to Loren Billings, who once ran the city’s Museum of Holography. She had applied for the loan with co-signers who had a history of fraud. Billings’ family is now suing the bank.
Giannoulias testified he had concerns about the co-signers and approved the loan only after their names were removed. Still, Billings’ family says that within a day of Giannoulias cutting her a check, more than half of it was made out to a firm those co-signers were associated with, GnXpert Neural Technologies. […]
Later testimony revealed Billings can’t fill out basic forms on her own, though Giannoulias testified “she was confident in what she was doing” and given that she was willing to mortgage her business and home on the loan, “it would be a prudent loan.”
More…
Giannoulias was the loan officer on the Billings loan, although he had only been working full-time at the bank for about a month. He testified Tuesday that he did not recall whether he personally investigated Billings’ financial records but that he believed other bank officials most likely had done so.
He appeared largely unruffled during about three hours of questioning, though he frequently could not remember details, often repeating, “Again, that was five years ago.”
At one point, William Cook, an attorney for Kasprazak, protested about what he called Giannoulias’ “evasive dodging” on whether the loan was prudent.
Giannoulias eventually agreed that if the loan were based only on Billings’ tax return information, “I’m not sure it would be a prudent loan.” But Broadway Bank attorney Damon Cheronis argued that the question was not proper.
In a statement released Tuesday, bank officials argued that the lawsuit was “fraught with baseless claims and factual errors” and that they expected to prevail.
Billings “clearly understood the terms of the loan,” bank officials said in the statement.
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Morning shorts
Wednesday, Dec 5, 2007 - Posted by Paul Richardson
* Purchase tickets here for the December 16th performance of “No-El, Or How the Blagojegrinch Stole Christmas” - Our Capitol Fax holiday party
* Study finds that IL continues to lose high-paying jobs
* Illinois mental health statistics
According to Mental Health America, Illinois has one of the lowest suicide rates in the nation.
The organization says Illinois ranks number six when it comes to the lowest number of suicides.
The state ranks number eight when it comes to lowest number of depressed people in the country.
But according to Katie Jones of the Mental Health Association of Illinois Valley, that number is misleading because Chicago skews the data.
She says people in bigger cities have lower rates of suicide because of better access to services.
* Reilly Wins First Development Battle
* IL Revenue Dept. posts delinquent’s names
* $310,000 for top cop? Yes, it is worth it says Daley; more here
* Sun-Times Editorial: CPS must solve its payroll problem, and now
For the last eight months, paychecks for hundreds of teachers and staff have arrived late or were short — sometimes by hundreds of dollars. And 1,600 teachers who retired in June have been getting estimated pension checks, rather than the exact amount, with as many as 650 getting much less than they are due, the Chicago Teachers’ Pension Board says.
All because CPS can’t figure out how to work the $17 million payroll system it launched in March.
* Six Dems vyign for State’s Attorney post square off
During the 100-minute exchange, the candidates also addressed a wide range of other issues, including how to handle low-level drug offenders, jail overcrowding and the county’s current budget impasse. The Democratic primary is wide-open, with a large field of candidates and no endorsement by the county party.
On the Republican side, Cook County Commissioner Tony Peraica of Riverside, who unsuccessfully ran for board president last year, is running against Edward Barron, an Orland Park attorney.
* State cries foul after getting refurbished copiers
The hit on taxpayers after the transaction with Brooklyn, New York-based M&M Computers is pegged at an estimated $165,217.
The copiers, which had been targeted for use at the Illinois Department of Transportation, were put in storage pending legal review.
* Chicago Public Radio: More IL teachers earning top credentials
* ISU wants state to butt out of smoking issue
* Petitions turned in for GOP candidate Paul in Illinois
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* The Tribune had this bit today on Hillary Clinton’s latest attack on Barack Obama…
[Clinton] also raised a new front on the issue of Obama’s use of “present” votes — rather than “yes” and “no” votes — on legislation when he was in the Illinois Senate, including on measures that dealt with Republican-led efforts to restrict abortion rights. […]
Obama has defended his “present” votes on abortion-related bills in the Illinois legislature, contending it was part of a strategy fashioned with abortion-rights advocates to help give some Illinois Senate Democrats political cover and to avoid looking harsh by casting “no” votes that would create a re-election risk.
But the Tribune earlier this year found few lawmakers remembered such a strategy and many of those who joined with Obama to vote present were, like him, in politically safe districts.
* Maybe only a few members the Tribune contacted remember this ploy, but I do. It was specifically designed by Planned Parenthood to counter Republican Senate President Pate Philip’s barrage of hot-button abortion bills that he was continually trying to ram through the Senate in 2001 and 2002. The Tribune missed the point - and by not contacting the groups involved, flubbed the story.
Besides passing bills he supported, Pate’s idea was to cause a controversy by splitting “moderate” Democrats away from the abortion rights groups, thereby causing a rift on that side, and, more imporantly, to put some political targets on the hot seat. So, as they also did in the House a few years back, Planned Parenthood was encouraging “Present” votes by some of their more loyal members in order to encourage the moderates to vote that way as well.
* For instance, Senate Bill 1661, introduced in 2002, would have created the “Induced Birth Infant Liability Act.”
Provides that, if a child is born alive after an induced labor abortion or other abortion, a parent of the child or the public guardian may maintain an action on the child’s behalf for damages…
The bill passed with 31 votes, but it received 11 Present votes. Among those voting “P” were Republican Senators Christine Radogno and Adeline Geo-Karis. Moderate Democrats voting “P” were Molaro and Viverito. Sen. Pat Welch, a perennial political target who was finally defeated in 2004, also voted Present.
A companion bill, SB 1662, was also hugely controversial at the time…
Defines “born-alive infant” to include every infant member of the species homo sapiens who is born alive at any stage of development.
The roll call on that proposal was pretty much the same as the other one.
* Was the strategy a success? Planned Parenthood claims it was, but the bills still passed the Senate and not all politically vulnerable people stuck to the program. Sen. Debbie Halvorson voted “No” on both of those bills in 2002, when she was up for reelection, but voted “Present” the year before on pretty much the same legislation, SB 1094 and SB 1095
* Pam Sutherland of Planned Parenthood said today that Pate Philip “couldn’t use those votes against the moderates or against pro-choice people.” Sutherland also slammed Clinton. “Having come from Illinois, she doesn’t understand Illinois politics.” And Sutherland had this to say in today’s Sun-Times…
“The poor guy is getting all this heat for a strategy we, the pro-choice community, did,” said Pam Sutherland, president and CEO of the Illinois Planned Parenthood Council.
Also, none of those aforementioned bills made it to a floor vote in the House, a development that surprised and angered some pro-life activists who had believed that Speaker Madigan was an ally, or at least a sympathizer. It shows you just how controversial these bills were, because Madigan had allowed pro-life bills to the floor before that package of legislation was introduced.
* Despite all this, Present votes, particularly repeated Present votes, are almost always fair game in campaigns. I’ve seen them used time and time again. So Clinton’s attack is perfectly understandable and within the bounds of political tradition (unlike that kindergarten nonsense), even if her facts are off on this one. The Tribune’s coverage played right into her hands.
*** UPDATE 1 *** Perhaps the Tribune should have looked at their own paper’s archives. Eric Zorn covered this very same issue well over three years ago…
“To provide cover for other Democrats who were shaky on the issue in an effort to convince them not to vote `yes,’” Sutherland said. “The idea is to recruit a group to vote `present’ that includes legislators who are clearly right with the issue.”
Sutherland said this tactic makes the “present” vote look less like a hedge or a cop-out and more like a constitutional concern or other high-minded qualm.
Hat tip: ArchPundit, who adds…
The irony is that pro-life groups in Illinois attacked him for killing later versions of these bills when he was a Committee Chair by not letting them out of committee.
*** UPDATE 2 *** Alan Keyes claimed that Obama’s voting history on that particular legislative package was why he was recruited to run in the first place…
Last year, however, BAIPA regained prominence when State Senator Barack Obama’s vote against allowing babies born alive to be deemed as “persons” made statewide headlines during his run for U.S. Senate. Republican candidate Alan Keyes repeatedly told the press he accepted the invitation to come from Maryland to run against Obama based primarily on Obama’s vote on the BAIPA while in the State Senate.
Obama recently stated that if the state legislation were to be identical to the federal language, he would vote for passage.
He went on to say, “I believe that position should be the one Democrats should take,” [pro-life activist Jill Stanek] reports Obama said to her in January while on a visit to the Capitol.
*** UPDATE 3 *** Zorn has now reposted his entire column on this issue. It had disappeared from the Intertubes, but you can read it here…
Obama’s “present” vote on that bill is one Hull is attacking him for in a flier decorated with rubber duckies.
Sutherland just laughs. “We also had [Democratic Senate leader] Emil Jones, [current Atty. Gen.] Lisa Madigan, Miguel del Valle, Rickey Hendon and other very strong pro-choice legislators voting `present’ on that one,” she said. “It was all done to pull `present’ votes off the fence.”
Obama confirmed Sutherland’s account of the legislative strategy and said, “No one was more active to beat back those bills than I was.”
“Criticizing Obama on the basis of `present’ votes indicates you don’t have a great understanding of the process,” said Thom Mannard, director of the Illinois Council Against Handgun Violence.
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* 12:20 pm - For the second day in a row Speaker Madigan did not attend the leaders meeting in Chicago. A spokesman said no invitation was offered (the same reason was given yesterday).
Asked if Madigan would meet with House GOP Leader Cross and Senate GOP Leader Watson today, as he did yesterday after the leaders meeting, the spokesman said he believed that staff was still working on answering questions raised by yesterday’s meeting.
* 12:34 pm - It’s always something.
Yesterday, the governor’s office promised a session next week to deal with the transit crisis, gaming, capital bill, etc. Trouble is, the National Black Caucus of State Legislators is holding its annual conference starting next Wednesday in Little Rock, Arkansas.
*** 3:00 pm *** No surprise. More bad news…
House Republican leader Tom Cross acknowledges it could take until January to work out a gambling expansion plan that would pay for a statewide construction program and pave the way for a mass-transit bailout.
Cross says he’d like something to happen next week but he can’t promise anything will. He blames the political climate and personalities involved.
House Speaker Michael Madigan didn’t attend a second day of meetings with Governor Rod Blagojevich and the three other legislative leaders to break a logjam that has transit riders facing threatened service cuts and fare increases.
…Adding… After checking around, I think the context of Cross’ statement is a bit different than what was presented in the AP story. Apparently, Cross was asked by a TV reporter what was to prevent Speaker Madigan from dragging the entire process into January, and Cross said he could see that happening. He wasn’t actually predicting a January session.
* 3:50 pm - Oof…
llinois State Treasurer Alexi Giannoulias was accused today of evading questions and playing a “game” about what he knew about a $1 million bank loan he gave in 2002 to an 86-year-old “feeble-minded” woman.
Giannoulias was a loan officer at his family’s Broadway Bank when he agreed to give the loan to Loren Billings, who once ran the city’s Museum of Holography. She had applied for the loan with co-signers who had a history of fraud.
Her family says that, within 24 hours of Giannoulias cutting Billings a check, more than half of it was made out to a firm associated with the co-signers, GnXpert Neural Technologies.
Under questioning before Cook County Judge Sophia Hall, Giannoulias repeatedly said “I don’t recall” or “I just don’t remember” details of the loan transaction because it was so long ago.
Giannoulias was repeatedly asked whether it was “prudent” to give a loan — with a $9,845 monthly payment due — to a woman with a monthly income reported on loan documents to be around $10,000. Finally, attorney Peter King asked Hall to order Giannoulias to answer.
*** 4:15 pm *** Biz groups file suit…
A coaltion of business groups filed suit in Sangamon County Tuesday to stop Gov. Rod Blagojevich’s planned expansion of health care programs.
The Illinois Coalition of Jobs, Growth and Prosperity said the state’s decision to expand health care programs without the approval fo the General Assembly is unconstitutional. It wants the courts to halt the expansion and to prohibt Comptroller Dan Hynes from paying any bills connected with the expansion.
Download the lawsuit here.
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* First, the setup…
The home mortgage meltdown isn’t just gutting the poorer parts of town.
It’s beginning to hammer wealthy and middle class Chicago neighborhoods like Lincoln Park, Lincoln Square, Irving Park, Portage Park and Mt. Greenwood — all areas where home mortgage foreclosures have shot up by 100 percent or more from 2006 to 2007.
Data released Monday by the National Training and Information Center shows that in Lincoln Park there were 18 homes in foreclosure during the first six months of 2006 — but that number more than doubled to 37 for the first half of this year.
In terms of sheer numbers, poor neighborhoods still are feeling the worst pain. But percentage increase in mortgage defaults is climbing faster in middle class areas, according to the data.
Poverty stricken West Englewood, for example, had 348 foreclosures, or 111 per square mile — yet that was just a 58 percent increase over the previous year.
But in middle class Portage Park, the heart of the Northwest Side Bungalow Belt, mortgage defaults jumped from 32 homes to 94, a whopping 193.8 percent.
* Here are the Chicago foreclosure numbers, and the Suburban foreclosure numbers.
* Now, on to the question: What, if anything, should state government do about this situation? Explain fully.
*** UPDATE *** Finally, a bit of good news on this general topic. Illinois will avoid the immediate meltdown that’s happening in some other states…
Illinois pulled its investment funds out of mortgage-backed securities long before the subprime meltdown, a move that will save the state from a crisis that faces other state governments.
State Treasurer Alexi Giannoulias said he has been assuring municipal leaders and representatives of state agencies that the more than $8 billion of the state’s portfolio and the more than $6.5 billion in the government investment pool is safe from rising mortgage default rates.
As a general rule, he said the state avoids investing in derivatives products and decided to pull its money out of certain high-risk products long ago.
“We were well out of (high-risk products) well before the first rumblings (of mortgage market troubles),” Mr. Giannoulias said.
Recent news reports are now emerging about state governments holding investments in mortgage-backed securities that are now in danger of default. Florida, Montana and Connecticut have seen their debt ratings downgraded as a result of their financial holdings.
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Indiana bets on Illinois meltdown
Tuesday, Dec 4, 2007 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Ernest Yelton, the executive director of the Indiana Gaming Commission, worries about how gaming expansion in Kentucky and a casino in Michigan will eat in to his state’s revenues. But he’s not so concerned about Illinois’ proposed expansion plan…
“One of our advantages to Illinois is they, historically, seem to do everything wrong. Everything they seem to do has backfired and it has been to our benefit,” Yelton said.
As an example, Yelton pointed to the passage of Illinois’ statewide smoking ban, which goes into effect Jan. 1. Casinos are not exempted from the law.
“Well, when Don Barden bought the Trump (Casino in Gary) he made one floor smoke-free and within two weeks he had to change it because people wouldn’t go. Gamblers smoke. I don’t like it. I don’t smoke, but they do,” Yelton said.
Yelton pointed out that the disagreements that have dominated Illinois politics come at a time when Democrats control all branches of state government.
“I just see no agreement from those people,” Yelton said.
* Phil Kadner points out one ray of hope…
Capitol Fax, published by Rich Miller and an excellent source of inside information about Springfield, reported Monday that Madigan has agreed to also use casino gambling revenue for public education.
Until last week, Capitol Fax reported, Madigan had insisted that all new casino money be used only for capital projects.
* Kadner also quotes state Rep. Lou Lang about the state’s gaming prospects. Lang is one of two House Democratic point persons on gaming expansion…
Since Lang always has been something of an optimist when it comes to casino expansion, I was reluctant to take his words at face value.
“I’m telling you that I’ve been at this for years, and we’re closer to getting it done than ever before,” Lang said.
* So far, at least, opposition to more gaming in Illinois has been muted, ineffective or mostly ignored…
The vast expansion of gambling that Blagojevich and the legislative leaders discussed once again Monday is a prospect that outrages some. They’re demanding a voter referendum first.
“They cannot buy the ballot box,” said Rev. Tom Grey, a gambling opponent. “What they can buy are state legislators.” […]
“The massive expansion of public gambling is not what the public wants,” said Lt. Gov. Patrick Quinn. “In fact I think the public ought to have a chance by referendum to weigh in on whether all this gambling — enhanced gambling — is a good idea.”
* Meanwhile, the absolutely bungled 10th license might be back in play…
The Illinois Gaming Board is taking preliminary steps to reissue the state’s long-dormant 10th casino license after a recent set of court rulings greatly limited efforts by Emerald Casino officials to open in Rosemont.
Board Chairman Aaron Jaffe said the state will begin soliciting bids from investment bankers to try to find an expert to help sell the license to generate “as much money … as we possibly can.”
“This has been a long time coming,” Jaffe said at Monday’s board meeting. “The 10th license has been dormant since 1997 and cost the state an estimated $1 billion in lost revenue.”
But don’t get your hopes up too high…
While the Gaming Board is moving forward with plans to sell the license, Emerald officials said last week that they will continue to fight in federal Bankruptcy Court.
* More from Paul…
* Editorial: With Gov. Zamboni in charge, state keeps slipping
* Sen. Rutherford audio, expects mass transit to wait until January
* State lawmakers could vote next week on transit, gaming
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Another blue ribbon study for the dusty pile
Tuesday, Dec 4, 2007 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Yet another good government study has come up with yet another set of reform proposals for Illinois…
The eight-member, bipartisan Illinois State Board of Elections should be replaced with a nonpartisan elections director, and administration of elections should be more uniform across the state, a new study says.
The study, by researchers at the Ohio State University Moritz College of Law, found that the biggest problem Illinois has is that the election system, overseen by more than 100 county clerks and other election authorities, “is decentralized with insufficient state-level leadership or guidance,” according to Edward Foley of the election law center at the college in Columbus, Ohio.
Foley said in an interview that the selection of a nonpartisan director of elections could be done with recommendations from legislative leaders to a governor, or by a governor with supermajority support — perhaps 75 percent — from both legislative chambers.
* Yet, when you look at the study’s summary (the full analysis has not been posted yet, even though I received two press releases about this issue yesterday), it goes beyond just recommending ways to reduce fraud, including this idea…
States should work to improve access to voting by relaxing barriers to voter registration. Both Minnesota and Wisconsin allow Election Day Registration and the study found no increased fraud under these systems. Other states reluctant to embrace this reform might consider Michigan’s system of affidavit voting, which protects voters whose names are not on the voter rolls even though they have attempted to register.
This makes me think there’s another agenda at play here.
* The Illinois State Board of Elections was created as a reform in 1970. Elections oversight had been one of the powers of the secretary of state, but that office was considered inappropriate for the office. Yet, there are some reformers who would go back to the old days…
Kent Redfield, professor of political science at the University of Illinois at Springfield and an election-reform advocate, said he thinks a constitutional change to make the secretary of state the top election official would be a way to have someone accountable for fair elections who could also seek adequate funding.
Redfield said the people who get appointed to the eight-member board now “tend to be establishment Democrats or Republicans … vested in the current system.”
With a secretary of state in charge, he said, “If elections are screwed up, then you have somebody who’s accountable” and who could be voted out themselves.
That worked real well in Ohio.
* More recommendations from the study…
* Increase the trust in the integrity of state elections by making local elections officials more accountable. Illinois is one of a few states that allow local election boards to be dominated by one political party or another, which jeopardizes the credibility of the boards’ work. Audits are also often poorly executed by local boards because of the lack of accountability.
* Create nonpartisan tribunals to resolve election disputes.
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Something is broken
Tuesday, Dec 4, 2007 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Wow…
For at least a decade, the Chicago Board of Education has maintained secret files on some of the criminals who have slipped into the school district’s teaching ranks. […]
The documents reveal that drug-dealing, prostitution, attempted murder, criminal sexual assault, embezzlement, theft, reckless homicide and stalking are among the crimes committed by those hired to educate children.
The state’s largest school district routinely failed to warn state education officials or other school districts of problem teachers.
For example, the school district conducted an internal investigation that revealed that a Chicago high school teacher twice had had sexual encounters with a 15-year-old girl, a CPS inspector general report said. The teacher was not charged with a crime but did resign from the Chicago school district after an internal investigation. According to the CPS documents, the unidentified teacher remains certified to teach in Illinois and is now teaching in Rockford Public Schools.
No one within Chicago Public Schools warned their counterparts in Rockford. […]
Upon being informed by a reporter on Oct. 30 of information in the secret files, Steve Katz, general counsel for Rockford School District 205, had this to say:
“This is absolutely sinful. Rockford School District would never knowingly hire a teacher who had sex with a 15-year-old. What kind of reference did Chicago give this person? It couldn’t have been a bad one or we wouldn’t have hired him. If one of our principals knew this about someone’s background and hired him anyway, that principal would be fired. Legally, Chicago didn’t have to warn us, but it certainly is immoral for them not to have.”
* More…
- Illinois ranks 49th in the nation in the rate at which it suspends or revokes teaching certificates.
- In 2004, Illinois became the 46th state to require FBI background checks for those entering the teaching profession. But the law exempted all teachers hired before 2004 from background checks. […]
Rep. Careen Gordon, D-Morris, introduced legislation to fingerprint all teachers but said lobbyists for the two teachers’ unions objected saying that it “picked on teachers.” Her bill was amended to fingerprint just those entering the profession or moving from one school district to another.
* And more…
A national database of teacher misconduct constructed by Small Newspaper Group found that Georgia educators were 25 times more likely to have their teaching license suspended or revoked than their counterparts in Illinois.
A Small Newspaper Group analysis of data obtained from licensure regulatory agencies for Illinois physicians, attorneys and teachers found:
-Illinois lawyers were 25 times more likely to lose their professional licenses than Illinois teachers.
-Physicians in Illinois are 43 times more likely to lose their license than teachers are to lose their teaching certificate, the newspaper group found.
Discuss.
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Morning shorts
Tuesday, Dec 4, 2007 - Posted by Paul Richardson
* Purchase tickets here for the December 16th performance of “No-El, Or How the Blagojegrinch Stole Christmas” - Our Capitol Fax holiday party
* Abortions at Stroger up 78% since 2003
The county has more than doubled the number of abortions performed each week since the service was reinstated in 1992 — to a current average of 77 a week from a self-imposed limit of 30 a week.
County officials and abortion advocates say the need has always been there, but the county wasn’t addressing it.
* Editorial: Don’t apply smoking ban to private fraternity houses
Although interesting, it would not be worth the costs of a legal fight that likely would be doomed to failure.
Instead, the department should focus on the original intent of lawmakers who approved the law and on crucial details such as when, if ever, an outdoor “beer garden” would be included in the Clean Indoor Air Act.
Leave the regulation of private fraternity and sorority houses to the organizations themselves and - to a limited extent - to the universities that recognize those organizations.
* Clout heavy contractor got $45K for unauthorized job
* Rockford airport officials say they are sitting on a gold mine
“RFD is sitting on top of a gold mine, and we now know where that vein is,” Executive Director Bob O’Brien says. “If we pursue it with aggressiveness, Rockford, the Rock River Valley and this region is going to become very, very wealthy.”
Even if no new routes are added at Chicago Rockford International next year, the airport should still break its single-year passenger record.
But airport officials are aiming higher. They want to see 300,000 to 400,000 passengers next year. They want to see at least a million passengers within five years.
* Illinois Republicans hold Governor for a day contest
* Kirk Dillard: Legislators who are ready for reform
* Daily Herald briefs: Transit vote next week…more support for Illinois FutureGen
* Michigan/West Virginia latest to back Illinois’ FutureGen bid
* 8th and 16th Congressional incumbents not breaking bank on election
Eighth District incumbent Melissa Bean, a Barrington Democrat, held a commanding fundraising lead over her closest challenger, Long Grove businessman Steve Greenberg. Both will battle it out in primaries for the right to represent their parties in the November general election.
Similar trends held in the 16th District, where Rep. Don Manzullo, an Egan Republican, had $455,244 in his campaign coffers, while Democratic challenger and Barrington Hills Village President Robert Abboud reported $77,089.
* 18th-CD candidate Morris focusing on keeping country safe
* Vote to replace Hastert to be held on a Saturday
* Mary Mitchell: White top cop the best way to get blacks’ trust?
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